U.S. Agencies Fail to Meet
Private Auditing Standards

WASHINGTON -- The federal government flunked its first-ever attempt to apply private-sector accounting standards to its books.

The executive branch received a "disclaimer" from its auditors for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 1997, meaning that the data weren't reliable enough for accountants to even render a clear opinion on the general state of the government's finances, according to a report released Monday by the...